It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

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Thursday, October 13, 2011

The Morgan Family

by: Stephanie Morgan
2010 School Year

My son missed more school than usual last year, 16 days in total, it would have been more if I had not become aware of a new school attendance law passed unanimously in the Nebraska state legislature that put every student and their families under the jurisdiction of the courts after 20 absences regardless of the reason. On it's face that statement might lend support to the law, to prove that "excessive absenteeism" is the fault of parents who irresponsibly choose to remove their children from school. It is true that I would have removed my son for planned absences beyond the 20 day threshold had the law not made it very risky to do so, but before you judge let me explain why.

My husband was deployed in Iraq last year and it was a VERY hard year for our family and especially my 12 year old son. My son didn’t miss 20 days of school, but he would if I had followed my mother best judgement and taken my son out for a full two weeks to be with his dad when he came home half way through his deployment for R&R. Instead I ignored my best judgement and my sons needs and allowed him only a few days with his father. I was angry and hurt that this law pushed me to ignore what was best for my son in order to keep our family out of trouble with the law. Even if my son wasn't an A/B student (and he is) being with his father would have still been more important at this time in his life.

We have from time to time removed our son from school for reasons other than illness, but because of the value we place on education we have always calculated his absences to have the least educational impact. Our son is responsible for catching up on work missed and we see that he keeps up on his school work when he is away sick. He is an excellent student who is well loved by his teachers. Last semester he was awarded the citizenship award at his school, the highest award the teachers give to students at Millard North Middle. He is a self-motivated, helpful, and trustworthy boy; active in boy scouts and church and we are so proud of the young man he is becoming.

I believe that most parents make decisions in the best interest of their kids, as we would have done if we had kept him home longer to spend time with his father. It was a year of great sadness for our family and our son seriously missed his father. There was one day this school year when I kept my son home because he was emotionally ill, he had suffered a serious panic attack because of the grief he'd carried around. It was the right thing to do and I would do it again, but this type of absence from school is no longer considered justified under the new stricter attendance policies and the tough school attendance law. I ask you is it the business of the county attorney when I make a decision like this in the best interest of my child?

This new law and the expansion of it under the GOALS Initiative is a serious affront to my parental authority and my family life. It has continued to affect the way I parent. It pushes me to send my son to school sick, to spread his illness to others. It pushes me to cancel important family plans that have in the past added to the quality of my sons life and well being. When you add up hundreds of decisions like this, certainly there will be a sharp increase in school attendance, but this is more a reflection of a drastic change in good old-fashioned common sense parenting than what is in the best interest of the children.

I thought this year would be an easy one for us to keep absences down, now that my husband is home from Iraq, but life is unpredictable and already the anxiety of this law is affecting my parenting once again. Last year my husband and I sacraficed precious time together when my husband was home for a two week break for R&R and when he returned home from a year and a half deployment in Iraq. Instead of removing our son from school for some good quality family time, we took him out for only a couple days so that we would not exceed the 20 day threshold that would have landed us before the county attorney. Our sacrafice was not in the best interest of our son or the family, it was not made because of concern for our son's academic life which is strong, but rather it was made to avoid any possible entanglement with law enforcement under Nebraska's new truancy law.

I was sick and angry over the way this law impacted my family life last year, not because I was hauled into court and prosecuted, but because I sacraficed my child's emotional well being to keep us out of the court house. This will probably surprise some of you who think of me as a tenacious warrior who doesn't back down, but it is a serious thing to consider that standing on your principles will constitute "civil disobedience" and could result in legal action against you and your child. It is a huge risk that very few parents are willing to make which is the reason the law has caused a sharp rise in attendance rates in the first year.

This year I committed myself to work to amend Nebraska's school attendance law, to restore the classic definition of truancy which honors a parents authority to discern when an absence from school is in the best interest of their child. That leaves the power in the hands of parents and principles rather than lawyers and judges. I felt relieved that I would be taking on this "battle" with my husband by my side, in a year that I thought would be routine, at a time when I assumed it would be easy to keep school absences at a minimum. I was wrong.

Already my son has been absent six times for common illnesses and we are not half way through the year. I thought last year was a bad season for colds and flues but this year is shaping up to be worse. Some of my friends are convinced that this is because more parents are sending their kids to school sick because of the truancy law. I remained pretty calm about the absences, confident that we wouldn't reach the 20 days this year if I just avoid any days off for travel. That was until a few weeks ago when my mother-in-law became very ill. We began discussing planned absences that our family may need in order to visit and care for grandma.

When I got my son's last report card, I was again reminded of the major shift in thinking that has taken place because of this law. Attendance is now the first thing on the report card, it sits in its place of prominence and importance above the grades. It is reported in a detailed chart that counts every hour of school missed. This report indicated that my son had been absent 6 days so far this year, that means via our school district policy he is an excessively absent student! Below the attendance summary was the Grade report. My excessively absent student has 9 A's and 2 B's. I wonder which they care about more, his attendance record or his grades?

So my calm confidence that this year would be different and worry free has melted away and I feel the concern setting in over this law once again. To take the burden off of my mother-in-law and provide the traditional family thanksgiving we traveled to Iowa a day early so that I could cook the meal in advance. We removed our son from school the day before Thanksgiving, adding one more absence to our sons "count".

This absence is considered an unexcused absence under our school districts new tougher attendance policy, changed in 2011 in order to "comply" with the "Superintendents Plan for Improving School Attendance". There is now no "justifiable" reason for a parent to remove their child from school for travel unless the student is attending a family funeral or wedding. So in this case, my son who is absent to be of service to his family and ill grandmother will be absent from school without excuse despite the fact that he has my permission and I communicated the reason for his absence to the school. Had I lied to the school and said he was ill the absence would have been excused, but then I would have taught my son to lie, which I will not do! He can be excused from school to attend a grandparents funeral, but not to be with a Grandparent who is still living. Where is the sense in that?

While in Iowa my family caught a ugly cold, chest congestion and scary cough, not to mention the fatigue and general "under the weather" feelings that accompany this kind of viral sickness. I was sick myself on Thanksgiving and the several days following, but my son and my toddler caught the illness just as we returned home. Monday my son was supposed to return to school after his long break but was too sick to go, I hoped that he would be better in order to return on Tuesday, but I knew from my own experience with the cold that it was unlikely. So, I began to feel anxious about the situation. He had 7 absences at this point, one more would be 8, and three or four months of flu season ahead.

To compound the problem, my mother in law faces a life threatening surgery that in the best case will be followed by many months of difficult recovery. She will need my assistance and making arrangements for me to have some weeks available for her care and still insure that my son doesn't miss any school is going to be extremely tricky.

With the uncertainty that faces us, my husband and I were very nervous to keep our son home from school despite his obvious symptoms and need to recover. We were contemplating sending him to school ill, not because of failing grades or concern for his academic well being, but instead because this "school attendance" law that has the potential of landing our family in court.

I have for months written about the pit falls of this law, the negative effects it will have on family life, parenting, and the well being of children, but when it hits home, when it becomes personal, it is a disturbing feeling. I am sick with this feeling that I am "breaking the law" when I do what is best for my family. I am sick when I even think of turning away from my motherly instincts to care for my sick son in order to "comply" with the law. I wonder if I am engaging in "civil disobedience" when I pull my son from school to travel to Iowa during this time of family need. I ask myself if I am being responsible risking entanglement with law enforcement and the heart ache of intrusive interventions into our family life.

My husband and I spent an evening discussing what we should do, what is right. In the end, we decide after a night of coughing, to let our son sleep to take another sick day. Under the school districts new attendance policy if a child stays home three consecutive days in a row the parents must get a doctors note or the absences will be counted "unexcused". So when Wednesday came and I knew he could have used another day to recuperate after another sleepless night of coughing I sent him to school anyway, this time to avoid the cost of going to the doctor (knowing full well there was nothing they could do for him) to get a doctors note.

I certainly hope that we won't reach the 20 day threshold, I certainly hope the our school social worker will judge wisely and not choose to "intervene" before the 20 day mark, that she won't refer us to the GOALS team, but there is no guarantee. It is a risk, just being a parent, just caring for my family based on our best judgement is a risk. It has become risky to be a parent in Nebraska, to raise a family here, and I find myself among those who have contemplated moving to a state that still honors a parents right to excuse their child from school.

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The Personal Impact of Nebraska's School Attendance Law

We began collecting stories in April of 2011 and will continue to collect them as long as the law is abused. The stories we have collected demonstrate how our community has been impacted by Nebraska's school attendance law that counts all absences rather than "unexcused" absences for purposed of "truancy".

It may seem by the district by district breakdown that the law has impacted Millard Public Schools the most, but it is important to note that the Nebraska Family Forum grew out of the Millard Parent Society and therefore the awareness within Millard Public Schools is longstanding.

Out of the 3000+ cases referred to the Douglas County Attorney last year only 400 came from MPS. For every story collected here it is reasonable to assume that they represent dozens more who are affected who have not written their thoughts in a public way.

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Nebraska Family Forum: What we Stand For

Mission:

It is the Mission of the Nebraska Family Forum (NFF) to promote education policies in our state that preserve and protect parental authority and the integrity of the family. In so doing, we will preserve the cooperative and respectful relationship between school authorities and parents, preserve a family-centered community, and provide a well-rounded education for our kids.

NFF Guiding Principles:

Family is Key: We believe the family is the single most important element to a child’s ability to learn and be successful in school and life, and parents are the foundation upon which family success rests. For this reason, it’s imperative that the state honor the authority of parents as they exercise their natural rights, obligations, and responsibilities to raise, manage, direct, and educate their children.

Freedom in Education is essential: We believe that flexibility in education, school choice, stimulating curriculum, quality teachers, and innovative education reforms are essential to a family centered education. We support policies that will lead to greater parental influence in education innovation, curriculum, and choice.

Family struggles are a healthy part of life: We believe that the fundamental right of a parent does not cease to exist simply because a parent may fail to be a model parent. Parents often struggle to meet the needs of their children, but this is not in itself sufficient cause for unwanted and unwarranted government intrusion into family life. We join with Father Steven Boes of Boys Town in "proclaiming that not only are there no bad boys, as Father Flanagan taught, but there are no bad families.” There is always at least one person in a family that wants what is best for their children and is willing to ask for and receive the help they need.

Government Intrusion can be Harmful: We believe that the right of parents to raise their children without undue government interference is a fundamental liberty that has long been protected by the Constitution of the United States and is not void upon the enrollment of ones child in a public school. We warn that governments who seek to micro-manage the everyday choices of parents in pursuit prescribed outcomes, will do great harm to the integrity of the family and by extension, the well-being of children and society as a whole.

Mother… I think of all the lessons she has modeled for me throughout my life in topics from boys to academia to love in and of family to the meaning of true success… now I heed her lessons in balancing my life, work and passions. All the while, she is my teacher, one with the honored and sacred name of Mother.

Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My mother.

The Simple Truths

Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. ~ Ernest Dimnet

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ~ William Butler Yeats

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner

Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. ~ G. M. Trevelyan

Every educated person is a future enemy. ~ Martin Bormann

I prefer the company of peasants because they have not been educated sufficiently to reason incorrectly. ~ Michel de Montaigne

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. ~ Mark Twain

It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. ~ John W. Gardner

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing, the rest is mere sheep-herding. ~ Ezra Pound

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~ Robert M. Hutchins

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein

To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks. ~ A. A. Milne

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~ Albert Einstein

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. ~ Abraham Lincoln

My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~aya Angelou

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

I hated school. Even to this day, when I see a school bus it's just depressing to me. The poor little kids. ~ Dolly Parton

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

"The amount of freedom to which a person is entitled is strictly measured by the amount of freedom he is willing to allow his fellow man." ~ Verlan Andersen

"You complain of bad city government. It is ultimately the fault of the people themselves if it is bad... In no way can you bring about decency in your Government so quickly as by backing up the men (and women) who represent your interests, rewarding those who are faithful and punishing those who fail in their duty." ~ Theodore Roosevelt